KARACHI: Stocks ended a two-day winning streak on Thursday as the KSE-100 index settled slightly in the negative with a minor decline of 17.96 points (0.05 per cent) at 34,034.65.

Trading remained choppy throughout the session with the index making intraday high and low by 108 and 115 points. Bulls and bears struggled in search of direction and fresh triggers.

The perception of shifting sands on the local political front; the volatile regional markets and slump in international oil prices as the hopes of demand outweighed the worries over a long lasting pandemic that could delay global opening of economies.

Further depreciation of the rupee against the dollar dampened sentiments. Investors also tread cautiouslyclose to the rollover week.

The KSE400 index suffered mainly from the decline in exploration and productionstocks which were mainly in the red. Prices trimmed in OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields. Theoil and gas marketing companies were gainers with Attock Petroleum and Shell closing at their upper circuits.During the day, reports of trade surplus added a bit of excitement but selling pressure kept prices in check. Thecurrent account churned out a surplus of $13 million (0.1pc of GDP)in May, compared to a deficit of $530m (2.5pc of GDP) in April. Fertiliser stocks managed to gain with Dawood Hercules hitting the upper circuit and Engro Corporation seeing further buying.

The volume increased 19pc from the previous day to 195.7m shares while traded value crawled up by 1pc to $34.6m. Stocks that contributed significantly included TRG, Unity Foods, Pakistan Refinery (right issue), TPL and Al Shaheer Corporation, which formed 30pc of total turnover with the technology sector topping the charts with 34.9m shares.

Stocks contributing to index fall included Fauji Fertiliser, down 0.1pc, Oil and Gas Development Company 0.8pc, Habib Bank 1pc, Hub Power 1.1pc, Pakistan Petroleum 1.5pc, Lucky Cement 0.6pc, United Bank 0.6pc and Pakistan Oilfieldds 0.8pc.